Last week we created a 3D thinking map with Mrs Duncan to help us decide what interests us about forest animals.  We all had an opportunity to share our ideas and came up with some fantastic ideas for forest activities and areas of learning.   Minibeast hunts, animal food and building animal homes proved to be the most popular areas of interest.  We also decided which resources we would need to achieve each of these activities.  Mrs Duncan was delighted that we were being responsible for our own learning!

This week we have shown a strong interest in putting on shows for Mrs Duncan.  We decided to use the puppet theatre as one of our play activities to help us explore this further.  We chose to make sign-up lists for people who want to watch our shows and are VERY strict if they do not attend! 🙂

We also showed an interest in moving cars and minibeasts along an empty wall space.  We independently put up a large roll of paper so that we could draw roads and tracks on this wall space.  Mrs Duncan was delighted that this made so many boys very enthusiastic about drawing and writing –  well done boys!

Many of us have also been showing an interest in using measuring tools and we are becoming increasingly confident in using measuring words in our play.

Apologies for the lack of updates this week on the Blog.  I am having some techincal difficulties but hope to have these resolved soon.  Thanks for your patience – the photographs will be worth the wait! 🙂

Please see the link above to access the homework for this week.  Thank you.

Please note this homework is for this week and  next week.

Maths

• Please continue revising all of our learn-its.  These are: 1+1, 2+2, 3+3, 4+5, 5+5, 2+1, 2+3.  We have been introduced to the terms doubling so you could try this whilst practising e.g. What’s double 4?  Please remember little and often is best for the learn-its.  1-2 minutes a day is better than a longer slot once a week.  Perhaps you could practise in car journeys?
• Counting in 2s.  Please use the SPLAT square to count in 2s up to 20.  We have been learning that these are even numbers.  Once you have ‘splatted’ the correct numbers you could try clapping, shouting, jumping or hopping the numbers – your child will be able to show you how to do this.
• Optional – you can use this YouTube counting video to reinforce counting in 2s.  The class were desperate for it to go online.

Literacy

• Please try playing up to 20 minutes of Teach Your Monster To Read this week
• This week the pandas and tigers are focusing on the ai sound.  Optional: You can play a game to reinforce this by clicking here.  Elephants are learning the aw sound.  You can play a game to reinforce this sound by clicking here.  Please click Phase 5 and then select ‘aw’.
• New words in word book: old, do, going, new, now

PLEASE ENSURE YOU HAVE READ THE IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOREST.  PLEASE LET ME KNOW A.S.A.P. IF YOU ARE ABLE TO HELP WITH OUR SHORT FOREST SESSION THIS WEDNESDAY.  THANK YOU.

This term we are learning to play fairly in team games.  This links to our circle time activities on children’s rights- being treated fairly.

We had a great time in the playground today playing kick rounders.  The children followed the rules and many of them are starting to work very well as a team.  We are gradually moving away from an entire team chasing after the ball (adorably typical at this age) and are beginning to pass! 🙂

Please remember that your child can wear/bring trainers to school every Friday if you wish.

Please see the forest information using the link above.  Thank you.

P1D will be visiting the forest on the following days:

• Wednesday 27th April – this will only be a very short visit to plan our topic.  It will run from 1.45 until approximately 3pm.  Please let Mrs Duncan know a.s.a.p if  you are able to help on this day. Children do not require snacks or rucksacks on this day  and they can wear their normal school uniform.
• Wednesday 4th May 9.15- 12pm
• Monday 9th May 10 -12pm
• Wednesday 18th May 9.15- 12pm
• Wednesday 25th May 9.15- 12pm
• Wednesday 1st June 9.15- 12pm
• Wb Monday 6th June – a final date/time for this week will be arranged neared the time

On these forest sessions children must wear

• long trousers – no shorts or skirts please
• Sturdy footwear – trainers, hiking boots,welly boots (when raining)
• A school jumper
• A waterproof jacket
• Waterproof trousers (we do have a small selection of these in school).

They should bring a small rucksack containing:

• A filled water bottle
• A snack
• Another layer – fleece or extra jumper
• Gloves
• Sun-cream and a sun hat.  Please apply sun-cream before sending your child to school on forest days.

We will require 5 parent helpers to help us with each forest session.  It would be ideal if we could have 1 or 2 parent helpers that would be willing to help with all/most sessions to allow for some consistency when assisting with activities.  Please keep Wednesdays/Monday 9th free if you are willing to help – a letter will be sent out shortly asking for availability.

As the children have made such wonderful progress in reading recently I have decided to give you an updated list of reading tips. Please remember that reading should only ever be completed when your child is willing to do it.  Pictures should still never be covered- we want the children to learn to use the pictures to aid reading.  This is particularly relevant for when they become more confident reading non-fiction texts in the future.

Before Reading

• Continue to talk about the front cover.  What might it be about?  Is it fiction or non-fiction?  What does the title say?  If the title is a tricky title try getting your child to find some words or sounds that they know and encourage them to use the pictures as a clue.  You could tell them one word from the title and see if they can find that word – this can help to break down tricky titles into more manageable chunks. Relate the front cover to their own experience.
• On occasions you may wish to begin or end the reading session by reading the entire book to your child.  I often do this in class.  It allows children to hear an adult modelling expression, use of punctuation and reinforces key vocabulary.

During Reading

• Continue to try relating the pictures to the words.  For example, if the picture shows a wet dog ask your child to find the word ‘wet’ in the text.  This reinforces that the pictures can help us and develops important skills in scanning text and most importantly encourages confidence.
• Encourage your child to experiment more with expression.  We have been doing this in class and it always causes much hilarity! Talk about what the character might be feeling and how this could impact upon his voice.  We have been using speech marks to help us know which parts of a story should be said in a special voice and which should be said in a regular, talking voice.
• Try hunting for openers – these are words that are effective at the start of a sentence.  Openers we have been focussing on are: we, I, The, Once upon a time, first, then.
• Try hunting for connectives – these are words that are used to ‘connect’ sentences together.  We have been focussing on: and, then, next, so, because, when, but.
• If you are aware of a tricky word that your child regularly struggles with try guiding them to it before starting the reading on that page.  I often say, ‘I think the word ‘said’ is on this page, can you find it?’  This gives them ownership of their learning rather than simply pointing out the word.
• Encourage independence.  If your child is willing, he or she, could try reading the independent books without any adult help.

After Reading

• The most important thing to do after reading is to praise your child.  Even if they struggled, please try to find something that they did that was very positive.  Another very important question to ask is did they enjoy it?  Why/why not?
• You could chat about their favourite part or character or, if it is a non-fiction book, you could ask them what new facts they found out.
• Ask some questions about the book.  You could ask what happened first in the story, how it ended, what sad/happy/scary thing happened.  You could ask what the characters were like.
• Get your child to ask you questions.  They always enjoy doing this to check you have been listening.
• Word/punctuation hunt – we often finish with this at the end of a reading session because it reinforces key areas of learning and most importantly, is fun!  Ask your child to close his/her book.  Give him a word to find in his book as quickly as he can.  You could extend this by getting him/her to find a certain type of punctuation or a spelling rule e.g. magic ‘e’, ‘oo’ sound etc or an opener or a connective.